The Bottoms star says she’s always looking to “contribute to more queer representation”
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGE BY HBO MAX
Ruby Cruz always seems to be playing someone queer. Sometimes it’s wielding swords and kissing Erin Kellyman’s knight-in-training Jade in the Willow reboot, others it’s punching jocks and kissing Rachel Sennott’s fight club leader PJ in Bottoms. Right now, she’s joined season three of The Sex Lives Of College Girls as Ash, a lesbian freshman and love interest for Taylor (Mia Rogers).
“I’m always down to contribute to queer representation,” she told Autostraddle. “I was honoured and excited to be a part of this show that’s so beloved by so many people and to be another queer character on it.”
According to Ruby, she didn’t have to audition for the show. The showrunner, Justin Nobles, saw her kick butts in Bottoms and called her up. “He was like, ‘I’m about to make a very queer episode of TV, would you like to be a part of it?’” Ruby revealed.
She later added that she feels “really, really grateful” that the projects she’s taken on in her career have allowed her to be queer and “play different sides of myself”, including gender expression. Like Kit in Willow and Hazel in Bottoms, Ash falls somewhere between masc and androgynous on the gender expression scale. “Queerness and gender expression, all of that is such a spectrum and I love getting the chance to explore different sides of myself through characters, explore different sides of myself physically, emotionally.”
“I feel like that represents who I am every day.”
The Sex Lives Of College Girls is streaming on HBO Max
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